Ladykillers lined up for the Lyric in adaptation of classic Ealing comedy

Published:10:12Thursday 25 May 2017

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The Ladykillers, the critically acclaimed adaptation of the classic Ealing Comedy by renowned writer Graham Linehan, opens at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast this month.

The Ladykillers is a celebrated black comedy tale of a sweet innocent old lady, alone in her home, pitted against a gang of criminal misfits who will stop at nothing.

Living in her ramshackle Victorian house, with only her beloved parrot General Gordon for company, Mrs Wilberforce becomes unwittingly embroiled in an ingenious heist plot when she lets her spare room to the charming yet mysterious Professor Marcus and his motley gang of ‘musicians’.

She is not aware that he has assembled a gang of hardened criminals for a sophisticated security van robbery.

When she discovers what they’re really up to, the Professor decides it’s time for her to take her final bow.

The original movie, made in 1955, starred Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Peter Sellers and Jack Warner, and William Rose won a BAFTA for Best British Screenplay.

In 2004 the Coen Brothers directed an American remake of the film starring Tom Hanks.

Then, in 2011, the film was adapted as a play by Graham Linehan and received What’s On Stage Award for Best New Comedy.

Director of the play, the Lyric’s Executive Producer, Jimmy Fay, has given the production a new twist with an all-female cast.